Wicks' E46 M3 Build. Hertz 3-Way Set from Tony D!

[Wicks]

Stock battery location which wasn't working. The XP3000 could slide around and wasn't anchored very well.

Cardboard template of the area.

Transfer to MDF

Fits nicely

Add some L-brackets for support

I don't have a fancy metal saw so a side grinder does the job. Crude but it doesn't have to be pretty.

Test fit

Throw in a threaded insert for the strap bracket which I removed from the stock tray.

Some spray adhesive for the rubber mat

Add some Second Skin

Fitting the battery with a fab'ed strap to hold the battery down.

I was rushing to get the system functional for a road trip that I took last weekend. Mother nature wasn't cooperating.

[CJ18]

Hey have you been missing FedEx? I have gotten emails the last 2 days that they attempted delivery on your sub but no one was home.

[Wicks]

Hey have you been missing FedEx? I have gotten emails the last 2 days that they attempted delivery on your sub but no one was home.

Not intentionally.

I'm at work and FedEx has only been showing up during my work hours.

Shown above, I don't have a car, so I can't have them hold it and grab it at lunch.

The FedEx hub that its at is clear across town and they close before I can get there with another car after work.

The downside of having equipment shipped to me...

Girlfriend will be home on Friday and should be able to sign for it. If not, I'll grab it on Saturday.

Thanks for the heads up though. I am anxious to get my hands on the XL, its just difficult logistically during the week.

I tried once to have something personal shipped to work (Soundstream Reference1000) and it "magically" disappeared.

So now I get stuck with having to pick stuff up from the hub most of the time.

Sometimes I get lucky and the driver will call me before he arrives which gives me time to run home, or he shows up in the evenings.

[Wicks]

Since I'm painting the inside of the box white to match the exterior of the car, I also thought that it'd be a great color to reflect some LED light.

This spray adhesive is BADASS! As a test, I sprayed a little on two pieces of scrap MDF. 10mins later they were bonded together TIGHT.

The LED strip will be out of sight with it being on the front edge of the port assembly, but will reflect nicely off of the white walls.

Frogtape >>> Bluetape

The frogtape peeled off very easily and left a prefect straight edge with no bleed-through.

My port takes up a lot of room at the back of the box. Therefore with a smaller plexi window, I don't get a full view of the box internals (like Meade's).

So to help view into the box, I'm putting a mirrored sheet on the bottom of the box.

This should add a good visual element when looking into the box through the plexi.

It'll also help reflect a lot of LED light around the box.

This is actually mirrored vinyl, not glass. I figured it'd be lighter, easier to cut and less prone to damage, although will probly scratch easier.

NOTE: The mirrored vinyl still has the plastic sheet on it for scratch protection. I won't take it off until the box is ready to seal up.

I peeled half of it up to get a look and it does look sweet from outside the car.

[Crandis16]

I like where this is going man, I'm still debating on doing a port forward build and sealing off the trunk, fortunately I don't have a nice enough car as yours to be hesitant on doing it

I know your pain too, it wasn't as bad as yours but I had mine towed to a shop just today

[Wicks]

I like where this is going man, I'm still debating on doing a port forward build and sealing off the trunk, fortunately I don't have a nice enough car as yours to be hesitant on doing it

I know your pain too, it wasn't as bad as yours but I had mine towed to a shop just today

Thanks!

I'm sealing off the trunk but I'm doing it with tight trim panels and solid foam peices. No Great Stuff or anything too permanent.....at least for now.

I want to be able to return the car to a somewhat stock appearance (although I have no plans of selling it......EVARRR! )

Sucks to see your baby on a tow truck huh!

Just gotta roll with the punches and keep at it.

[Crandis16]

if you want it to be more sealed off you STILL can use great stuff AND return it to stock. get gorilla tape and basically tape off where great stuff would go, once it's sealed off with that tape you can apply the great stuff and have a good seal. I know that great stuff can be a bitch to get off carpeting. I really don't have to worry about resale value.... i got this car for about $3500 lol.... I have to be ready any minute for it to die, like it already did once lol

[Wicks]

if you want it to be more sealed off you STILL can use great stuff AND return it to stock. get gorilla tape and basically tape off where great stuff would go, once it's sealed off with that tape you can apply the great stuff and have a good seal. I know that great stuff can be a bitch to get off carpeting. I really don't have to worry about resale value.... i got this car for about $3500 lol.... I have to be ready any minute for it to die, like it already did once lol

Hmmm, good idea with the tape!

I'll definitely keep that in mind if my other methods don't work.

I love my car but I am envious of guys that jump right in and fully modify their cars any way they want...we'll see how the first iteration of this build goes...

[Crandis16]

If you really have no intention of selling it then I say hell, find out what is loudest in your vehicle, and then make it permanent but clean. Here's a pic of my buddy's setup @cashdollar2009 who used tape and got very good numbers off of TL. I believe it was about 145 off of a single DC lvl XL m1 15"

my buddy did only gorilla tape, but that alone was enough to keep most of the trunk sealed off. I plan on doing the same to my car in order to keep the stock look in case I choose to take everything out

[Wicks]

Previously I mentioned issues with the port assembly.

I glued down the top piece / port assembly and found out that I have a gap between the port and rear piece.

Rather than just dump a bunch of glue in the gap, I decided to do it right and make some shims.

Apparently the top and port didn't stay at a clean 90 degrees.

With the mirrored bottom I can't do much for bracing. The port assembly does a good bracing job on the top of the box.

So to strengthen up the bottom I decided to add a strip across the bottom which should help a lot.

As I glued the bottom strip I realized that this piece would make a great lip to hold up the rear wall.

So I added another strip on the bottom. Nothing wrong with more bracing...

Before I glue on the rear wall piece I thought it'd be a great time to clamp on some edging around the outside so that I have something to secure the trim pieces to.